Scorpions to Finish Unreleased Tracks

Often when a band breaks up, they take a handful of years off, then get back together for a tour. If that works well, then they get back into the studio for a new album. The Scorpions have subverted that formula, first by deciding not to break up, but also by announcing that they are working on a new album.

The German hard rockers have been in the studio with producers Mikael “Nord” Andersson and Martin Hansen to put the finishing touches on songs that were originally recorded during the ‘Blackout’ and ‘Love at First Sting’ albums, but never released. So far, 12 songs have been finished, with another four or six to be completed before determining the final sequence.

However, guitarist Matthias Jabs told Billboard that the songs will not sound like they did in the early-80s. “We’re doing it the way we are recording albums today,” he said. “But the basic ideas, the riffs, the feel, the way they were written and arranged, we try to keep as much from the old recordings as possible. Thirty years later no one would come up with these ideas we came up with when we were younger, so we want to keep that spirit in there.”

The band is looking to put the album out at some point in 2013. However, the group will not tour behind the new album. They insist their show on Dec. 15 in Oberhausen, Germany will be their last, regardless of any future recordings they may release.

“We need to be realistic, and we can’t continue like this for the next five to 10 years,” Jabs continued. “We decided to stop at this point because we are still in great form now and would like to be remembered as a great live band by our fans forever.”